← 2.17.32 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.17.33

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 17: Kausalyā learns of Rāma’s exile. Rāma tells Kausalyā that Bharata will inherit and he must leave, she collapses and laments their separation

In the sequence: she laments that her fasting, gifts, and prayers have brought no relief and wishes she could die rather than lose him.

2.17.33

bhṛśam asukham amarṣitā tadā bahu vilalāpa samīkṣya rāghavam
vyasanam upaniśāmya sā mahat sutam iva baddham avekṣya kiṃnarī

Then, deeply pained and grief-stricken, gazing upon Rāghava and perceiving the great calamity, she lamented long — like a kiṃnarī looking upon her captured son.

Words: bhṛśam — deeply; asukham — painfully, unhappily; amarṣitā — grief-stricken, indignant; tadā — then; bahu — much, long; vilalāpa — lamented; samīkṣya — having gazed upon; rāghavam — Rāghava; vyasanam — calamity; upaniśāmya — having perceived; sā — she; mahat — great; sutam — son; iva — like; baddham — captured, bound; avekṣya — looking upon; kiṃnarī — a kiṃnarī (female kinnara)

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.